The impact of RCEP on the development of China's industry, the
reporter Feng Qiyu
In the poverty alleviation workshop of Fangda Liming Textile Co., Ltd. in Dongxiang Autonomous County, Gansu, workers are busy on the production line.
Under the RCEP agreement, the textile industry will be one of the industries most affected.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fan Peishen
On April 15, my country formally deposited the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement” (RCEP) approval letter with ASEAN, marking that China officially completed the RCEP approval process and became the first non-ASEAN member country to officially complete the approval process.
At present, my country is vigorously advancing the technical preparations for the implementation of RCEP to ensure that the agreement can be fully fulfilled when the agreement comes into force.
What impact will the entry into force of RCEP bring to my country's industrial development and foreign trade pattern?
Relevant experts pointed out in an interview with the Economic Daily reporter that the official implementation of RCEP will make domestic industries face a more fierce market competition environment, but in the long run it will help form new industrial development advantages at a higher level.
Help unblock the domestic and international markets
In November 2020, 15 RCEP member states formally signed the agreement.
Since then, what impact the agreement will have on trade, investment and economic development among member states has become the focus of attention of all parties.
The UNCTAD research on RCEP shows that by 2025, RCEP will bring more than 10% export growth to 15 member states.
The relevant calculations of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in the United States show that by 2030, the total national income of RCEP member countries will increase by US$186 billion, and the total annual export volume is expected to increase by an additional US$519 billion.
"For China, RCEP will provide strong support for my country to build a new development pattern." Wang Shouwen, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy International Trade Negotiation Representative, pointed out not long ago that RCEP will help China to smooth regional industries through open trade and investment. The chain and supply chain can better connect the domestic and international markets and two resources; it will help smooth the domestic cycle, promote the domestic and international dual cycles, and promote China to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern.
Wang Shouwen said that RCEP will help China's economy move towards an advanced industrial level, improve the quality standards of Chinese products, promote industrial upgrading, and promote the high-quality development of China's economy.
"The RCEP agreement, as a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, covers market access and regulatory provisions, and will have a systematic and comprehensive impact on my country's domestic industries." Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Institute of Asia Research, Ministry of Commerce, was interviewed by a reporter from the Economic Daily It is pointed out that with the mutual opening of goods, services and investment fields with RCEP members, my country will introduce higher standards of rules in areas such as competition policy, intellectual property rights, and transparency.
Experts believe that while optimizing the business environment, facilitating the investment layout of enterprises, and benefiting from opening up, domestic industries will face a fairer and more intense market competition environment. However, in the long run, such competition will also help promote domestic The industrial structure is optimized and upgraded, and new industrial development advantages are formed at a higher level.
Yuan Bo emphasized that higher standards of intellectual property protection rules will help China introduce high-quality foreign investment and further develop knowledge-intensive high-tech industries; the introduction of unified e-commerce rules in the RCEP region for the first time will also help China’s e-commerce and Digital economy-related industries expand the market of RCEP member countries, and promote the acceleration of the digital transformation of regional industries.
Rules of origin promote the optimization of regional production factors
Cumulative rules of origin are widely regarded as the most eye-catching achievement of RCEP in the field of goods trade.
According to the rules of accumulation of origin, when determining the qualification of product origin, the origin materials of other member states of the RCEP agreement can be accumulated to meet the 40% value-added origin standard of the final export product, which makes it easier to enjoy preferential tariffs.
Jiang Feng, Director of the Customs Administration Department of the General Administration of Customs, pointed out that "Compared with bilateral free trade agreements, the RCEP accumulation rules with 15 parties will further lower the threshold for products to obtain tariff concessions and will be more conducive to expanding product exports."
"In the past, the place of origin was more accumulated in bilateral free trade agreements, and accumulation and sales only existed between the countries of the agreement." Shen Minghui, director of the emerging economy research office of the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was interviewed by this reporter. Said that the value components involved in 15 economies can be accumulated this time, correspondingly, there are more choices of original materials, and the value-added standards are easier to meet.
Shen Minghui believes that according to the value-added origin rules, companies have more choices of raw materials and more convenient accumulation, especially the labor-intensive assembly and processing industries will benefit first.
From the perspective of the value chain, producers of intermediate products such as semi-finished products and parts may benefit further, especially in countries that have production advantages, such as China, Japan, and South Korea. The advantages of related industries such as electronic semi-finished products and parts and components will be further improved.
In addition, it will help promote the optimal allocation of production factors in the entire region, and enterprises in the upstream and downstream industries of the value chain that serve local final consumption are expected to receive further investment attention.
Yuan Bo believes that the regional accumulation rules of origin will help multinational companies in the ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (10+3) regions rely on the resource endowments and market advantages of each country to adjust the industrial chain supply chain layout more flexibly and achieve high efficiency in the region. The allocation of factors and resources will also promote the trade and investment of intermediate products in the region, and promote the formation of a closer, stable and competitive regional industrial chain division of labor and cooperation system.
At the same time, it will also enhance the overall investment attractiveness of the "10+3" area, especially to further promote the investment layout of the electronic information, mechanical equipment, petrochemical, textile and clothing, automobile and other industries in the "10+3" area. Form a relatively complete industrial chain division pattern covering upstream and downstream.
Yuan Bo emphasized that the regional accumulation rules of origin may also promote labor-intensive industries or production links to further transfer to ASEAN countries where land and labor costs are cheaper, thereby accelerating the restructuring of the regional industrial chain supply chain, which will affect China’s central and western regions. The region brings certain competitive pressure.
Promote compliance with high-level international economic and trade rules
After the RCEP takes effect, nearly 30% of my country’s exports can achieve zero-tariff treatment, which will bring opportunities for China’s foreign investment and service exports.
Wang Shouwen pointed out that this will also promote my country's benchmarking with international high-level economic and trade rules, accelerate institutional opening, and promote the construction of a new system with a higher level of open economy.
"RCEP will bring new changes to my country's foreign trade pattern." Yuan Bo said that this will not only further consolidate the long-term close trade ties between my country and ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand, but also expand my country's new trade cooperation with Japan and South Korea. Space and play an active role in promoting trade growth along the “Belt and Road”.
First, it is conducive to stimulating the potential of trade and investment cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea and expanding new trade growth space.
The second is to form a superposition with the existing bilateral free trade agreements, to improve the overall level of regional liberalization, and the industrial investment cooperation between each other will be closer.
The third is to have a demonstration effect in the "Belt and Road" initiative, and promote countries to establish more free trade arrangements in areas along the route.
According to Shen Minghui, RCEP will have a more profound impact on domestic trade and investment——
First of all, the advantages of industries with competitive advantages in our country will be more obvious, and it will also promote the spontaneous transformation and upgrading of industries with relatively weak competitiveness.
Within the 15-country-based regions, my country's position as the regional center of the industrial chain supply chain is expected to be further consolidated, especially as a regional production center for intermediate products such as semi-finished products and parts for the internal market in the region.
Secondly, RCEP has a rich level of influence on different industries.
Industries including textiles, clothing, light industry, building materials, electronic equipment, and agricultural products are expected to benefit further. The competitive pressures of auto parts, steel, and petrochemical industries may be greater, but they will also promote the upgrading of related industries and improve production efficiency.
Not only that, the opening up of service trade has also improved accordingly.
In terms of the service sector, there are 100 departments promised by China's accession to the WTO. After the signing of the RCEP, 22 new sub-sectors were added, including R&D, management consulting, manufacturing-related services, and air transportation.
At the same time, the commitment level of 37 departments including finance, law, construction, and shipping has also been increased.
In the next stage, service trade is undoubtedly a new growth point, and the sustainable development of the regional economy is expected to gain new impetus from the opening up of service trade.
In addition, China's position as a regional consumer market has further improved.
With the opening up, Chinese consumers can have more choices of high-quality imported goods and services.
The mismatch between demand and supply in the consumer sector is also expected to improve.
China's position as an indispensable consumer market in the world is expected to be further consolidated.
At the same time, this also provides a broad market for the products of RCEP member states, which is an important international public product provided by China for the region.
"During the process of signing and taking effect of RCEP, my country has also explored many new trade rules and further opened up the market, including the business environment and market access opportunities. There is no doubt that foreign capital is expected to flow into China further in the future. "Shen Minghui said.
Our reporter Feng Qiyu